The Gap

I am not talking about retail clothes stores. There is this space between what owners and managers want, and what they get out of their staff. Let’s call it ‘the gap’. You want to make sure that the gap in your restaurant is as small as possible.

How?

There is only one way to do that: Train. Yeah, I know, there goes Tom again beating the same old drum.

But, it’s true!

Inspect what you expect. You cannot expect your staff to do exactly as you wish every time. They are not owners. They simply are not going to care about things the same way that you do. They are not going to see things eye to eye with you. They are going to think that the way they are doing it is the better way.

You need to show them otherwise. I have also mentioned many times that you don’t have the luxury of only showing them once–you need to revisit the training thing over and over again. It is never over.

I have a lot of fun (not) telling consulting clients that they are the problem. That they are not present on the floor, or in the kitchen, making sure things are done just how they want. It doesn’t go over very big, and I often don’t called back for more work because of it. Apparently, there are egos involved. Go figure.

Lessen the gap

You want your employees on the same page as you? You want your employees doing things the way you want them to be done? Be present. Train. Retrain.

In a restaurant profitability class I teach, we talk about the four components of any control system:

Create standards

Train staff to meet standards

Monitor their performance

Take corrective action if needed.

I would like you to pay particular attention to #3. Watch what is going on in your restaurant. If things are not to your liking–say so! Too often in this hospitality business it is dictated by passive aggression.

So many times I have heard owners/managers mutter under their breath, “That’s not how I showed them!” If this is the case, speak up!

They want to do it right

I think you will find that most employees do actually want to get it right. They just forgot how.

Be the kind of boss that the staff can count on for guidance. Don’t get mad at them for doing things the wrong way–get in there and show them the right way.

You will be surprised by the positive response that you will get from the employees. That will translate in to a much smaller ‘gap’ and also in to the things you want: